Mass Effect- A Hacker's Tale
by smolengineer
Summary: Nikki's mundane life as a C-Sec Security Specialist takes an unexpected turn when Shepard and his team stumble across her during the attack on Eden Prime. ME1 rewrite, written from Nikki's POV, and some liberties taken with characters and plot points. (Repost of "Hacker" from the writer profile imjusttori that I can no longer log into.)
1. Prologue

**A/N: So... in case you didn't get to read it in my profile, this is my second account. This story was originally started on my imjusttori profile, and I have absolutely no clue what my logon is to that. Which makes me sad and mad and all sorts of things. Anyway. I decided to make a new account and bring over the story, with a few minor tweaks. I've spent the past year and a half or so in the MERP fandom on facebook and BOY has Nikki evolved. So here is her story, with some minor tweaks to chapters I've already written, but nothing super duper huge.**

 **And also the disclaimer... I only own Nikki and her backstory. Bioware owns the rest.**

 **Now... Here we go!**

* * *

You'd think the life of a hacker would be a glamorous one — with lots of money and fast skycars and always surrounded by pretty people.

It's not.

Okay, so it may be if you're working for the bad guys… or you _are_ a bad guy. Whatever.

I'm not.

I was hired by C-Sec as a "Cyber Security Specialist" because of all the interest in the silly side projects I'd worked on in my parent's lab as a teenager- some of them being picked up by various organizations that even went on to improve medical technology. The human Councillor eagerly sponsored me when I applied to C-Sec at sixteen, and I instantly pissed off a lot of people by being the youngest member of the division… as well as the only human. Most hardly gave me the time of day, thinking I would amount to absolutely nothing, and let me be so that C-Sec could have its "token human".

Boy, did I prove them wrong.

I've been here ten stinking years and now I'm the top hacker. Okay… " _Cyber Security Specialist_ "… because paid hacker doesn't sound as nice. But it's what I do.

See, the automated security protocols around all sensitive data here on the Citadel are really good, but not the best. I'm here to try and get around those automated defenses and firewalls, and then write the programs to prevent anyone else from doing the same.

I'm also responsible for finding the scumbags trying to hack anything else in the system, and notifying the right C-Sec department so said scumbag can be put behind bars.

While it's boring most of the time, it can be pretty satisfying — knowing I'm helping to make the Citadel a safer place.

But that's just my day job.

Five years ago I was contacted by an agent for the Shadow Broker, who told me that the Broker himself wanted to meet me for an "interview". I was young and stupid and was pressured into going by the agent, not realizing that I really had a hit on me. Any number of things could have happened, but luckily fate was on my side.

I work with all different sorts of aliens on a daily basis, and I'm not afraid of any of them.

I was afraid of the Shadow Broker.

I'd never seen his species before, and I haven't since. I assumed he must be ancient — long lived like the Asari — and my respect, out of fear, was high; because this guy was huge. And scary… like, straight from hell scary.

Once I got past my initial fear — and believe me when I say I was scared shitless the entire time I was there — the Shadow Broker told me he was impressed by my skills; said they were the best he'd ever seen. He told me I was the only person to have ever hacked his intel network. When I admitted I hadn't realized the system I had gotten into was _his_ , he seemed surprised, but he believed me. I felt honored that he was impressed with my abilities, and even moreso when he "asked" me to become an agent for him.

The alternative was a slow, painful death, which he described in great detail on how it would be carried out. So, like the sane, rational person I sometimes pretend to be, I took the job.

But I'd put enough of his information brokers in jail because of how some of them got their intel, as well as how they distributed it. I wasn't going to be one of them. I told him I'd only give the information to the people who it would benefit the most — even if it meant a lower amount of money. He agreed, amused that I had the audacity to put terms on my employment. I was to collect information for him with my position on the Citadel.

I didn't like it, but in my line of work, there were things you came across and couldn't do anything about. Having a direct link to the Shadow Broker would change that… Most of the time anyway.

So fast forward five years to present day. I'm still in this mundane job, spiked with occasional bouts of fun and a feeling of self-righteousness at being part of the greater good.

I led a good life, had a couple of good friends, and although I wasn't uber rich, I was on the richer side of well-off. My life was pretty normal — as normal as can be for someone living on the Citadel — until I went to Eden Prime to visit my dad.

My whole world changed that day…


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Minor changes here too. There's a bit where Nikki talks about her past- I've updated it to reflect her new background. At some point I'm going to actually publish a small bio, so that the overall events that I'm going to write aren't spoiled, but will at least give an insight to where she came from.**

 **There's a brief mention of her "best friend"... who is going to actually show up later in this story and then again once we get into the events of ME2. Said best friend is actually another character in the MERP world that I've become ridiculously attached to, and his admin and I have become really good friends as well. Said best friend's admin is okay with this... and I'm going to be asking him to actually help write the scenes in which he appears. Stay tuned for that, guys!**

 **I'll shut up now!**

* * *

"We're approaching the spaceport Miss Harris. Do you have transport to your destination?" the shuttle pilot called back to me.

Every damn year for the past six years when I visited Eden Prime, I had the same shuttle pilot from the docking station above the planet to the spaceport on the surface. And every damn year I had to endure being called _Miss Harris_.

"My dad's picking me up, as usual." I called back. "Are you ever going to stop calling me Miss Harris? You know how annoying I think that is."

I heard a laugh. "Not a chance."

"Fine, I'm going to start calling you _Mr. Cortez_ instead of Steve." I snapped. I knew I was being childish, but damn, I hated being called Miss. I wasn't an old lady.

"You know I wouldn't mind that." He responded.

 _God dammit._

Ten minutes later, we landed.

"See you in a week on your trip back, Miss Harris." Cortez said as I grabbed my bag and waited for the shuttle's door to open. "Make sure you tell your dad Happy Birthday for me."

I rolled my eyes before giving him a smile. "Sure thing. See you in a week."

A short walk and wait later, I got onto the tram that would take me to the main part of the colony.

Once on the other side, I stepped off the tram and closed my eyes, breathing in the fresh air with a smile on my face. I'd become used to the air on the Citadel, though it was filtered and recycled over and over. Nothing beat the smell of fresh air, especially when that's what you were raised on.

Opening my eyes, I spotted my dad's beat up pickup truck; he and my mother had brought it with them from our home colony, Avalon VI when they came here. Once they got it onto the planet, dad had rigged it to run on electricity instead of gasoline. He definitely had a screw loose to still be using it, and had to have been the _only_ person on the planet — or the known galaxy — to still be driving a vehicle instead of flying a skycar.

My dad and his eccentricities.

"Hey daddy," I said, walking into his open arms and holding him tight in a hug. I was 27 and I loved and missed my father to no end; so yes, I still called him daddy. And no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get him to come live with me on the Citadel. Conversely, he couldn't convince me to come back home for good. Nothing but farming and scientific expeditions on this planet. _Blech._

"Hey sweetheart." He returned the hug and kissed the top of my head. "How was the trip?" He let me go and turned to the truck.

"Same as always." I grinned, throwing my backpack into the bed of the truck before hopping into the cab. "How have you been? Happy birthday by the way."

He chuckled. "Thanks. And I've been the same as always. Nothing new to report."

 _Good ol' dad._ "So, what are we doing today? Anything in particular you want to do? Can I cook you something?"

Dad chuckled again. "You cook about as well as your mother, if I remember correctly."

I frowned. "Hey now, I've taken some cooking classes. I've gotten better!"

"I'll take your word for it." He started the truck and headed down the path towards the compound he lived in. "I figured we'd just order in some pizza and catch a vid or two today. I'm not feeling so well."

Worry washed over me — he usually didn't say he wasn't feeling well unless he was _really_ feeling bad. "Dad, what's wrong?" I asked quickly, looking him over to see if I was missing anything.

"Nothing, just feeling a little off is all." He replied. I knew he was lying, but I didn't push the issue. He'd let me know if something was really, _really_ wrong. "I think I worked too much yesterday."

"Mmmhmm…"

"Now, Nikki…"

I put on my best angry face."Don't you 'Now, Nikki' me." I scolded, pointing my finger at him like a mother disciplining a child. "If you're not feeling well, you should go to the doctor!"

I watched as he rolled his eyes. "He's a quack." He grumbled.

"He is not a quack, you're just a wimp." I teased. "I'll let it slide for now. But if you start feeling worse, promise me you'll go?"

He glanced over at me; his features softening as he undoubtedly saw the worry on my face. "Alright, I promise."

"Even after I leave?" I clarified. "Mother isn't around to nag you about this stuff anymore."

"You don't have to remind me."

"I'm sorry daddy, it's just-"

"I know, you love me and don't want me to be sick." He finished. "I promise, I'll go see the doctor if I start feeling any worse." He stopped the truck in front of the prefab we called home. I smiled up at it- even though it looked just like millions of other prefabs across the galaxy, it still seemed a little different to me. It was the place where dad now called home, the place I stayed once a year when I took leave to visit my dad. It was my home away from home.

There were times when I wish we could go back to our real home, back on Av-six, but that was a pipedream. My sudden decision to leave home at sixteen was the straw that broke the camel's back in my parents already strained marriage. My mother blamed my father for my rash decision to leave, and in turn left him behind. When I last checked in on her she was living on a remote colony funded by Exogeni, conducting some sort of top secret research. I haven't been in touch with her since. The worst part about it though, is that really neither of them were at fault. I was young, and in love with my best friend… who had just been driven away by his parents into the welcoming arms of the Alliance. The thought of staying behind on a colony where I had no other friends and it was either get away or work for the company my parents worked for… my mind was already made up.

"Let's go inside, you can drop your bag off in your room while I order the pizza." My dad interjected on my reminiscing.

"Sounds like a plan, daddy."

"Hey, dad! There's a rerun of Blasto 5 coming on, wanna watch that?" I yelled. I was in the living room, setting up the fold away tables for our dinner while browsing through upcoming vids. Dad was in the kitchen putting the pizza onto plates.

"Sure, sweetheart, whatever you want to watch is fine." He yelled back.

I stood with my hands on my hips as he entered the living room. "No, it's your birthday, what do you want to watch?"

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. "You'll call me old."

"And I'd be right." I smiled back as we took our seats. "What do you want?"

"Just put on the news for now. The local channel is doing a piece on the Prothean artifact that was found here recently."

I nearly choked on my pizza. "A Prothean artifact was found here?" I managed to cough out.

Dad nodded. "Yes, and they think it's a beacon of some sort." He took a bite of his pizza and glanced at the vidscreen. "Look…." His voice muffled by food.

The reporter on the screen was standing in front of what looked like the side of a mountain that had been carved away. Mixed in the rubble was a tall, dark structure that was very obviously not made by nature. It looked like workers were preparing to put the device onto a trolley to move it. _That must be the beacon._

"Thanks Suzanne. I'm Dianna Allers from the Alliance News Network giving exclusive coverage on this historical find. I'm here with Professor Simon Powell from Cambridge University in London on Earth, our leading expert in Prothean technology. Professor, is it true that this artifact is Prothean? Or could it be something left behind from a civilization that previously inhabited this planet?" The camera turned to focus solely on the professor.

"There are several markers on this artifact that indicate it is distinctly Prothean." He replied. His tone was genuinely excited, like a kid on Christmas morning. "We believe it to be a beacon, similar to the one we found on Mars. If it is, the information it contains could be astounding. We will, of course, need to study it further."

"Of course, Professor." The reporter cut in. "Will you continue to study it here on Eden Prime?"

"Oh heavens, no." He replied, sounding disgusted. "While the facilities and people have been extremely accommodating, there just isn't the room, equipment, or sheer manpower needed to properly study this. The Alliance is making plans with the Citadel Council to move the artifact to a different location soon enough."

The reporter went on to ask the professor a few more questions, but I turned to my dad. "I know they're excited and all, but I'm surprised the Alliance allowed a reporter to come here and do this." I gestured toward the vidscreen. "Don't you think that's a bit of a risk?"

"Look at you, Miss Security expert." He teased. "I think it's alright. Why not show off to the rest of the galaxy that we can contribute. I bet it'll help us get a seat on the council, if the crack-pots running the show are willing to share that is."

I shook my head. "That's not what I mean. Think about it daddy; this colony is on the fringes of the terminus systems. How many times have there been random pirate and raider attacks? Announcing that we have a priceless, intact _,_ potentially working piece of Prothean technology within their reach is a stupid idea." I huffed. _Freaking idiots._

"Oh calm down." He chided, patting my leg. "I'm sure the Alliance is on their way as we speak to pick up the thing, and if any pirates land in the meantime, there are Alliance Marines stationed here to hold them off. We'll be fine."

"If you say so…" I mumbled. I had a bad feeling in my gut about the whole situation, and I didn't like that my dad could potentially be in the middle of it. "Hey… let's go for a walk, work off some of the calories from the pizza."

"I'd like that."

We walked down to the far end of the compound, mostly in silence, just enjoying each other's company, when we heard a terrible screeching noise — like the worst feedback from a microphone ever. We both covered our ears and doubled over in pain, looking around to see what could possibly be making the god-awful noise.

A few torturous seconds later it stopped.

"What the fuck was that?" I exclaimed, looking around again. I noticed other people out and about with similar expressions.

"Watch your mouth, Nikki." My dad scolded.

"Sorry… it's just…" I trailed off as I spotted something moving at the end of the road. I squinted, trying to bring it into focus.

It looked like a person in armor, although the more I studied it, the more I realized it wasn't a person at all. The humanoid thing had arms and legs, but it looked like it was wearing a hood, and where the face should have been was a singular orb of light. A quiet hush fell over the few people that were outside as several more stepped into view.

Horror ran through me as I realized these creatures were carrying weapons.

"Daddy, we need to get out of here. NOW!"

"Wha-" My dad started to ask as the creatures suddenly opened fire.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: No changes this time. Wooo!**

* * *

"Dad!" I yelled, grabbing his hand and activating the cloaking program I had recently installed on my omni-tool. In a second, the cloaking field enveloped us both, providing us with a visual camouflage.

 _Please don't let them have any infrared scanners… if they do we're dead._

My dad froze in place. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded terrified. "Nikki?" I pulled him along, knowing he was just as scared that he could no longer see me as he was of the aliens that had just shown up.

"It's a cloaking field dad," I explained as quietly as I could while pulling him behind a retaining wall, well out of the way from the gunfire. The field failed a split second after we ducked from view; I honestly hadn't expected it to last that long.

"How…." He seemed so stunned that he couldn't finish the question, although I knew where he was going.

"I can't really tell you… classified and all that jazz." I lied. He looked at me, dumbfounded. "Dad, would you please get _down_!?" I hissed, pulling him down in a crouch next to me. "Do you want to get shot?" He continued to give me the deer-in-the-headlights stare.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." My dad finally found his voice, although it was small and timid. "I know you've had training for all this… I just… I never…." He looked around trying to find the rest of his sentence. After a moment he just shrugged.

 _Guess that little bit of combat training from C-Sec really_ was _worth something._

I activated my omni-tool again, scanning the area for the closest creature, hoping to get enough of a signature that I could later figure out what these things were. Unfortunately, my scanner was jammed. I growled in frustration, tracing the jamming signal, trying to figure a way around it.

"Nikki…" My dad said slowly.

"What?" I snapped, looking up at him, my expression turning from frustration to ' _Oh, shit'_ in an instant. There was a creature towering over us, it's massive, one-eyed head seemingly staring at us.

In that instant that I realized the creature wasn't an alien as I knew them - it was a machine. Nothing like any mech I knew either, but this thing - with the cables and even some exposed wires - was a machine; which meant I could do something about it. Before the strange mech could raise its weapon, I activated my omni-tool, causing a pulse of energy to arc into it, charring circuitry and disabling it, for the moment.

"Dad, _go_!" I urged him. "Get back home, lock the door and hide. I'll be there as soon as I can." I wasn't even focused on him as I quickly found the location of the machine's motherboard. I intended to hack this son of a bitch.

"Nikki, I'm not leaving you-"

"I can handle myself." I grumbled, initializing programs to crack this thing. "I need to figure out what these things are and why the hell they're killing people."

He put his hand on my shoulder. "Sweetheart, we can take it with us. Let's go!"

"If this thing gets up in the next minute we'll be up shit creek weather we're here or twenty feet from it. My omni-tool can't handle another overload yet, especially one that large." I snarled out as I popped a cable out from it's neck and into a port on it's chest, hoping to bypass some of the circuitry I'd damaged.

My dad, meanwhile, just stood there, too shocked at the situation to do much else. "Dad, if you're not going to go, can you at least keep an eye out for more of these things? I may need to cloak us again so we can move in a jiffy."

That seemed to shake him from panic mode. "Alright." He looked around from our hiding place, and suddenly I was glad he was there. If one could sneak up on us like this one did, another surely could.

It took me another two minutes to get through the machine's security - and there was a hell of a lot of it, including several failsafes that looked like they were set to wipe the things memory if anyone were to get past them. I had written something similar for the Alliance's N7 soldier's omni-tools so I was able to work around it pretty fast.

Finally I got through to the core programming, and it asked for a command.

"Command… command…. _dammit._ " I growled out in frustration. I had just reacted; not thinking about what I really wanted the thing to do.

 _If I can get this thing to target it's friends, dad and I might actually have a chance to get away…_.

I typed in a few command codes, but before I brought it back online, I copied what I could of its memory core onto my omni-tool, then uploaded the hack.

"To whatever god is listening... _please_ let this work." I mumbled under my breath as I powered the thing on.

The flashlight making up its face lit back up, and the thing slowly stood. It looked at me and I took my father's hand, readying to cloak us should the thing attack.

It cocked its head to the side and made a garbled noise; a lot like the sound a modem or computer board makes while it's processing data.

"Can you understand me?" I asked it. Again it replied with the noise, this time sounding a little different. I tried a different tactic, typing in my omni-tool and sending a transmission directly to it.

"This unit is awaiting orders." It suddenly said in a robotic voice. I grinned and my dad looked astonished.

"What are you?" My dad asked it. The thing turned its head to look at him.

"We are Geth."

I bit back my initial reaction. "Look, before we ask more questions, are there any more of you around here? I need some answers but I don't want to get shot to pieces."

"Negative. All other platforms are currently headed toward Prothean beacon." It responded. A warning on my omni-tool noted an intrusion on the firewalls I had set up to prevent this thing from going back. Something else entirely was trying to get this geth back to hostile.

"Why are you here?" I asked, trying to countermeasure as it spoke. I couldn't believe I had just hacked a freaking Artificial Intelligence… that wasn't supposed to be possible.

"Geth are under orders of the Old-Machine, Nazara, following Saren Arteruis-Spectre." The flaps on its head moved energetically as it spoke. "Geth seek to bring the Old Machines back from dark space. The Prothean beacon holds information to achieve this result."

My dad looked deep in thought. "I know the name Arterius…. He's a turian! The council is going to have a field day when they find out he's working with the geth and attacking a human colony!"

I started to glance through the information this geth was storing, stopping short when I came across schematics for bombs. Opening the file I skimmed through it fast, pausing in fear when I realized what I was reading.

"Dad… we can worry about Saren later." I looked up from my omni-tool, trying to figure out how to tell my dad our home was about to be destroyed. "It uh… it looks like he has bombs at the spaceport. He plans on leveling the colony."

"How the hell does he think he's going to get away with this?!" My dad asked in frustration. "The security feeds from all over the colony are going to give him away!"

"The geth... or Saren, I can't tell which… their ship is sending out a massive jamming signal. All outgoing communications are knocked dead before they can go anywhere." The bombs looked easy enough to disable, but I had to get to them first. I turned to the machine. "Geth, can you take me to these bombs?"

The geth stood there, quiet. I wondered what was going through its head... well, chest. Its chest held the main CPU.

"It is your intention to save this colony." It stated. Or it may have been asking. The thing had no inflection.

"Innocent people don't deserve to die, do they?" I wasn't sure if the geth reasoned the same way as organics did, but I could be hopeful, right?

"It is the only logical course. When the Old-Machines return from dark space, they will destroy all organic life. Organic life will desire to self-preserve. Destruction of this colony is the only course of action to prevent additional organics from discovering the Old-Machines plan."

My jaw hung open. Fanatically religious artificial intelligences willing to kill for their beliefs…. Who woulda thunk it?

"Can you at least tell me where the bombs are?" I asked. If I could get to them quick enough I could disarm them.

"Transmitting coordinates." The geth's flashlight face blinked several times and my omni-tool pinged as it received the data.

"Thanks. Can you do us a favor and not tell your buddies what we're up to?" I asked, hopeful again.

"All other platforms are currently connected to this unit. Geth have been attempting to reintegrate runtimes within this platform into the collective. Your firewalls are impressive."

"Thanks?" I said, not sure if that was a compliment. "So, all the other geth on the planet already know that I'm going to try and disarm the bombs?"

"Affirmative. Current calculations show that you will not reach the bombs in sufficient time to disarm. You are not perceived as a threat."

"Great. Well… um… Geth, it's been great talkin' to ya' but we really have to go. See ya' around!" I hit the final program to make sure the "auto-target other synthetics" hack stuck, then grabbed my dad's arm and pulled him along with me. After we were out of sight from the Geth, I stopped and double checked the coordinates of the bombs.

"Nikki, what are we going to do?" My dad asked, voice trembling. I looked at him, my heart breaking to see him so scared. It's not every day you see the person who grew up protecting you in such a helpless state.

" _I_ am going to go defuse those bombs. _You_ are going to go home, get the truck, and get as far away from here as possible. Hopefully there's enough time for you to escape the blast radius if I can't get those bombs disarmed in time." I replied, confident I could get it done based on the schematics I got from the geth.

 _And hopefully I can_ get _there in time._

"No." My dad said forcefully.

"Dad…" I whined. I _really_ didn't want to argue with him on this.

"No, I can't let you do that!" He protested, his eyes beginning to water. It killed me to see him so upset.

"If I don't we're both dead!" I yelled. "Don't you want to live, dad?"

"Why does it have to be you?" He asked, tears leaking from his eyes. "I've already lost your mother, I'm not going to lose you too."

"Daddy, _please_ , just trust me. I'm good with things like this, it's my job for christ's sake." I was twisting the truth a little - I really only sat behind a desk, but I knew he needed to hear that I normally disarmed bombs to get him to remotely listen. "I love you, daddy, but I'm not going to let you or anyone else here die because I ran. As of right now, we are the only ones who know about these bombs. _You_ may be the only chance we have to save other colonists if those bombs _do_ go off."

His eyes softened, but still held a sadness to them. "My beautiful baby girl, all grown up." He touched his hand to my cheek. "I'm not going to make you promise to come back to me, because…. Well…"

"I know." I closed my eyes against the sting of tears, then took a deep breath that did nothing to calm me down for what I was about to do. "I love you, daddy. Promise me you'll go as fast as you can." I opened my eyes and pulled him into a hug, knowing this was very possibly the last time I'd ever get to.

"I love you too Nikki." He replied, holding me tight. "Go, get to those bombs before it's too late." He finished quietly. We stood there for another few moments, both of us reluctant to let go.

I pulled away first, and he finally let me go. "Get out of here and take as many people with you as you can, daddy."

"I will, sweetheart." He half waved a goodbye before heading back down the lane towards our home. I watched him for a few seconds, longing to go with him, but knowing fate had brought me back home for a reason.

Blowing out a breath in an another attempt to calm myself, I turned and started jogging toward the spaceport.

 _To that god that helped me with that geth, please let me make it there in time…. please…_


	4. Chapter 3

"Come on, fucker!" I yelled at the tram control. Someone had locked it, and the encryption code on the startup program was a tough one to crack. "Yes!" I exclaimed as the patch I'd created finally worked.

"Put your hands in the air and turn around slowly!" A deep, commanding voice said from behind me. I complied, having a sneaking suspicion I had a gun trained on me.

I slowly turned to find not just one, but three rifles pointed at me by three Human Alliance soldiers. A fourth was holding up an unconscious turian using his biotics to aid him. The turian looked like he had seen better days; his nose and temple caked in dried navy colored blood, and his face plates looked as if he had some major swelling going on behind them.

 _What the hell did they do to him?_

My eyes widened and I chewed my lip as I contemplated the possibilities. Did they cause his injuries? If so, what had they done to him? And why were they taking him with them? No, he had to be part of their team and had gotten injured. That was the only logical explanation.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

The male human closest to me stepped forward. "What are you doing here?" He indicated the tram controls with his rifle.

"They were locked, so I've been trying to override them." I said, my hands still raised and my voice much steadier than I felt. "I need to get to the other side, there are bombs set to level this colony. I don't know about you, but I'd like to not die on this planet."

"How do you know there are bombs?" demanded the only woman in the group. "Commander, she could be working with the geth." She had one of those butchy, 'I'm-a-total-Bitch' faces that just screamed hostility towards anything and everything.

My jaw literally dropped. "Why would I be working with the geth?" I snapped, shock turning to anger and outrage that this stranger would assume such a thing. "They're busy destroying my home and killing the people I know and love. Why the fuck would I do that?"

"You could just be saying that to throw us off." The other man behind a rifle spoke up, his tone accusatory.

 _What's with these people? I'm human for Christ's sake..._

"If you aren't working with the geth, how did you know about the bombs?" The commander asked cautiously. He was a man assessing the situation. I felt like he didn't really think I was working with the geth, but he had to be sure before he would trust me.

"I was able to hack the information from one of the geth units." I replied, cringing as all four soldiers' expressions went from distrust to shock.

"You what?" The commander asked, his tone full of disbelief.

"I was able to fry the circuits of one of the geth units and I uploaded an override program that gave me access to it's memory core." I answered rapidly, partly out of fear that I wouldn't reach the bombs in time to disarm them, but mostly because the soldiers didn't seem to believe me. "I've got all the data on my omni-tool, and I would be more than happy to show you everything, but can we please get over to those bombs and disable them?" I begged.

The commander continued to look at me, and it was hard to determine what he was thinking. I knew what I was telling them was a lot to process, but I was frustrated they weren't actually doing anything.

"Look, I can't defend myself against the three of you, and I don't have any weapons, so can you at least stop aiming at me?" I asked, exasperated that I still had three guns trained on me.

The woman and young man looked to the commander, whose gaze never left mine. After a moment he nodded and lowered his rifle; the other two lowered theirs as well. I allowed my hands to fall to my sides slowly.

"What's your name?" the commander asked.

"Officer Nikki Harris. I'm a Cyber Security Specialist for C-Sec, on leave visiting my father." I responded. He had only asked for my name, but I had been at C-Sec long enough to know what questions followed; Where are you from? What are you doing here?; and so on.

The Commander studied me for a moment before responding. "Alright then, Miss Harris, we're headed to the spaceport, and if there are bombs, you get to be first in line to disarm them." He took a few steps towards me, each step making me want to cringe from the power it exuded. The guy commanded attention just by being there, let alone anything he may have actually done. He got his face very close to mine and in barely more than a whisper said, "We'll be watching you. One wrong move and you'll be getting a bullet through your skull."

 _Gulp._

"Do I make myself clear?" He finished menacingly.

"Crystal," I replied. I knew I couldn't get anything more than that out. My whole body trembled, knowing full well this man, this soldier, would not hesitate to kill me if I got in his way or jeopardized his mission. I did my best to compose myself, but spectacularly failed.

Funny, I was only ever this scared in the Shadow Broker's presence.

The commander backed away from me before speaking again. "All right, Miss Harris, if you would be so kind as to get us over to the spaceport now," he indicated the controls with his rifle.

I nodded and turned back to the controls, fumbling with them as my hands shook in fear. I took a deep breath to attempt to calm my nerves. After a few tries, I finally got the tram started and we made our way over to the spaceport in record time, thanks to my override of the safety controls. As soon as we got off the tram, bitch-face spotted the first bomb.

She pointed to an alcove next to a flight of stairs. "Looks like she was right about the bombs, Commander!" the woman said, her tone a mix of excitement and fear.

"Well, Harris, time to show off your technical skills." The commander indicated the bomb with his rifle. He turned to the rest of his team. "Lieutenant, hand Nihlus to Jenkins and go scout for other bombs. Williams, go with him," he ordered.

I already had the electronics cover off the bomb and was working through the garbage data as his team dispersed. Before long I was able to get into the core programming and disable it. "Piece of cake." I mumbled.

I pulled up the set of coordinates for the rest of the bombs to see which way we should go next, when a warning flashed on my omni-tool. All four bombs were linked, and suddenly the remaining three went into a countdown.

"Commander! We need to get to the other bombs, and fast." I yelled, running over to him. "I have this one disabled, but I think doing so has inadvertently triggered an auto-countdown on the remaining ones. These things are going to go off in three minutes!"

"Dammit!" The commander exclaimed. "Alright, let's move, people!"

We didn't have far to go, but we ran the whole way. I spotted the lieutenant hunched over the second bomb, working frantically. I looked over his shoulder to see if I could help him, but he seemed to have it under control.

"Take cover!" Williams shouted, pointing her rifle away from our little group and firing. I spared a glance at where she was shooting; at least three geth units had set up along the tramway and seemed determined to not let us defuse the bombs.

"Miss Harris, take this over, I'll provide cover!" The lieutenant exclaimed. He pulled out his rifle and moved over a step to give me room to work.

I took his place and worked quickly, trying to ignore the klaxon of alarms and gunfire all around me. I jumped a few times, yelping as stray shots ricocheted near me on the ground or on the housing of the bomb.

I punched in the final code and grinned as the bomb powered down. Unfortunately, the countdown on the other two continued.

"Two more," I said to myself, looking around for them. As soon as I spotted them I cloaked and stayed low, running along the wall to stay out of the crossfire between the humans and the geth across the tram track. The bombs were lined up perfectly to chain react, with the worst of the destruction at the spaceport, however the colony itself was just below said spaceport. The explosion would destroy everything.

"Where the hell did she go?" The commander yelled. My cloak failed just as I reached the next bomb.

"She's at the next bomb!" The lieutenant shouted.

 _Good job, biotic-boy wonder. Way to make me an easy target, you asshole._

"How did she get over there so fast?" he added.

"I don't know; just make sure she stays covered." The commander ordered. I thanked the powers that be that he had some sense.

I got it disabled even faster than the one before, and then cloaked once more as I ran to the last bomb. The rest of the team followed, taking cover behind the bomb as they fought the last of the geth units. The commander stood and took aim, but quickly crouched back down with a hiss as he took a hit.

"Commander, you okay?" Williams asked fearfully as she took out the geth who had shot him.

"I'm fine." He replied, a shimmer of blue going over him as his shields recharged. "The round took out my shields. How's the bomb coming, Harris?" He asked impatiently.

"I'm almost there," I grumbled. "It would be a lot easier to work if I didn't have the Alliance breathing down my back." I was almost through, so it didn't really matter. But still, it was the principal of it all.

"Yeah, and I'm sure it would be just as easy for you to set this last one off, killing us all." Williams replied.

"Which would be a really swell idea if I was suicidal. Since I'm not, I'm opting to disable the fucking thing." The commander took a final shot and the team stood as the last of the geth fell. A second later the bomb powered down.

"Good work, Harris." The commander said, holding out his hand to help me stand from my crouched position.

I took his hand and allowed him to pull me up. "Thanks…." I said dismissively. I studied the commander's face, recognition slowly dawning on me. "You're… Commander Shepard!" I gasped. I was in the presence of a legend, the poster child of the Alliance, the hero of the Skyllian Blitz. "How… why are you… the beacon!" I blurted out, my mind racing too much to form a coherent sentence.

Shepard arched a brow. "Just how do you know about the beacon?"

"It was all over the local news earlier!" I exclaimed. "The Alliance sent you to pick it up? That's just..." My mind continued to race, and I started to pace back and forth. "Why would they send you? Did they know the colony was going to be attacked?" I looked at him impatiently.

He looked at me incredulously, as if he couldn't believe I'd be asking him that. "I don't know." He finally admitted. "What I do know is that it's a damn good thing they did send me. What else do you know about the beacon?"

I shrugged. "Not much, just what the news said. It's prothean, and there were plans to move it off world for more study."

"Commander, we should probably get to the docks," the lieutenant cut in. "I can radio Joker to meet us there."

"No," Shepard said, turning to the other man. "We don't know if the beacon is actually there or if the area is secure. I'll call him when we get there." He turned back to me. "Any other pertinent information you'd like to share with us?"

I contemplated for a moment before blurting out, "We're probably going to find Saren Arcturius around here somewhere, frantically trying to load the beacon onto his ship." The commander's eyes bulged again in surprise. "The geth I hacked said that they were here under Saren's orders."

"Alright then, we have someone to validate the dock-worker's story if Nihlus here doesn't make it." Shepard's expression became drawn, exhaustion evident in his features. "We need to get to the beacon. Harris, stick close to Jenkins and Nihlus in case things gets hairy. Williams, Kaidan, on point with me." The commander looked at me one last time before handing me his pistol. "Since you're C-Sec I assume you've had weapons training?"

"Only the basics with pistols and sub-machine guns." I said as I took the pistol. "But that was ten years ago. I'm not your normal, everyday cop."

"Great…" The commander replied. "Just… only use this in self-defense." He pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'll cloak and run away before having to use this." I assured him.

He led Williams and the lieutenant ahead of us, their rifles held at the ready; constantly surveying the area. I fell into step with Jenkins, who was walking awkwardly under the unconscious turian's weight. The man, if he could be called that - he barely looked older than eighteen - grinned at me greeting.

"So, Miss Har-"

I flinched and held up my hand to cut him off. "Please, just call me Nikki."

"Okay, Nikki. You said you're from here?" Jenkins asked, stumbling a little under Nihlus' weight.

"Did I?" I asked, my face twisting into a frown as I tried to recall everything I'd said. "Er… well, my dad lives here now, so it's like home for me. I'm actually from Avalon Six, in the-"

"No shit, you're from money?!" Jenkins exclaimed, stumbling again in his excitement. He stopped and shifted Nihlus a little before he continued. "What made you move out here?"

"Long story short I went off to C-Sec and my parents split." I replied with a shrug. "My mom is on another colony working for Exogeni and Dad retired here."

"Retired? You don't look old enough to have a parent who's retired." He said with a smirk.

"Nice." I replied as I rolled my eyes. "You sure have some tact there, Jenkins." I said it sarcastically, but it apparently went over his head.

His face and ears flushed red in embarrassment. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way…."

I laughed. "Don't worry about it. What happened to him?" I asked, nodding toward the red-plated turian he was carrying.

"We're not totally sure." Jenkins replied, looking around. "We found him like this at the dock on the other side of the tram station. A dock-worker said Nihlus was inspecting something, when another turian approached him. Nihlus called him Saren, and they spoke to one another as if they were friends or something." He grunted and shifted Nihlus a bit again. "Nihlus turned his back on Saren, and that's when he shot him. Either Nihlus has some weird reflex or Saren missed because the bullet only grazed his temple. Apparently that pissed Nihlus off enough to attack Saren. They had one hell of a fist fight, and Saren got the upper hand, pinned Nihlus and slammed his face into the deck."

I ran my hand through my short hair. It all seemed to go back to that damn turian. "Saren… why the hell is he doing this?" I stopped short, flailing my hands uselessly in anger. "Why destroy the colony for the beacon? He could have just sent the geth in to get it and not expose himself…." I trailed off, lost in my thoughts.

"So, Saren really is in charge of this whole thing?" Jenkins asked incredulously. "No shit. The council is going to have a field day when they hear this!"

His statement pulled at me - my dad had said pretty much the same thing just a few hours before. I hoped he had made it back to the house at least. I brought up my omni-tool and placed a call to him, just to check in. After two tries with no response, typed a quick message to let him know the bombs were disabled and he should head back to the house; I'd be back soon. I was beginning to worry; dad never ignored my calls, he always picked up. Although I had no idea if the jamming signal I'd discovered earlier had anything to do with it. I resolved to try again later.

The sound of gunfire ahead of us made me look up from my omni-tool and over to Jenkins. His eyes widened for a moment, before his features twisted into determination. He gently set Nihlus down against a crate, then stood up and turned to me.

"Stay here with Nihlus, I'm going to go back up the commander." He said quickly, his demeanor changing from easygoing kid, to trained alliance soldier.

"No, wait," I grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. "I'm not very good with guns, what am I supposed to do if we get attacked?" I asked, panic beginning to take over. "Please, don't go." I begged.

Jenkins sighed. "You'll be fine. We cleared out all the geth behind us, and the dock below isn't big, they won't get past us." He replied, trying to sound soothing. The gunfire increased, and we both craned our necks trying to see what was happening, but we were still too far away.

I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. After exhaling, I realized he was right; he needed to help Shepard more than he needed to babysit an unconscious turian and a nerd who barely knew how to use a pistol. If he stayed much longer, the fight may well end up where we were.

"Go," I gestured with my hand towards the dock. "I'll be here, trying to not get shot."

Jenkins chuckled. "I'll be right back, don't worry." He replied before sauntering off, pulling out his assault rifle as he went. I watched him disappear down the stairs leading to the dock with trepidation. Being alone was freaking me out.

To put my mind at ease, I tried calling my dad again. There was still no answer, which didn't help my state of mind. I stood behind the crate next to Nihlus, my hands holding the pistol, pointed at the staircase; my elbows resting on top of the crate for support. I kept my eyes peeled for any geth until the gunfire stopped. I waited for a full minute of silence before relaxing my stance. Moments later, Jenkins came trotting back up the stairs with the lieutenant in tow.

Just as they caught sight of me, their faces fell, Jenkins shouting, "Nikki, behind you!" as both men raised their rifles. I spun around coming face to face with a geth unit. I had no time to react as the geth raised it's rifle and fired.

Time seemed to stand still; I heard the two men shouting behind me, the sound of their gunfire, and I watched with distant fascination as the geth in front of me was shredded in the hail of fire. I felt like I was slowly falling to the ground, and it wasn't until my knees made contact with the cold metal surface that made up the platform did I register the searing pain in my left shoulder.

I dropped the pistol and groaned, grabbing my left arm with my right hand in an attempt to ease the pain. It didn't work. Tears streamed from my face as I finished falling onto my right shoulder.

"Nikki!" I heard Jenkins voice, but couldn't bear to open my eyes; the pain now radiating through every part of my body. My shoulder felt like it was on fire, and all I wanted was for someone to put it out.

"Shit, she's bleeding badly!" I heard the lieutenant shout, closer than Jenkins had been.

I cried out as someone put pressure on the wound, causing that searing hot pain to increase tenfold.

"Here's some medi-gel…" a voice trailed off. The pain created a haze that made it difficult to hear. My head spun, or rather, the world spun beneath me as I strained to figure out what was going on.

"She's lost a lot of blood…." another voice said.

Suddenly, the pain seemed to abate, and everything went black.


	5. Chapter 4

I woke up to the sound of low conversation and the smell of antiseptic. Keeping my eyes shut, I tried to place my surroundings, and what the hell happened to get me to where I was. The last thing I remembered was….

 _Shit, I was shot!_

Next I had to figure out which medical facility was I in, as well as if my dad had been notified.

I slowly opened my eyes, grateful that the med-bay had been dimmed. I turned my head towards the sound of the voices; they were coming from the opposite end of the bay. It looked like Bitch-face… _Williams…_ was having a conversation with a woman in a medical uniform. The Commander…. _Shepard_ … was lying on the bed next to them.

I continued to look around the room, still wondering where the hell I was. The turian… _Nihlus_ … was on a bed on my side of the room. IV's had been inserted into both arms and a weird bandage covered most of his face.

I sat up awkwardly, fumbling when my left arm wouldn't move the way I had expected it to, and then realized it was in a sling. My shoulder throbbed with a dull pain, but the rest of my body felt numb and heavy, as if I had been given a large dose of pain meds.

The doctor noticed me and came right over, Williams staying at Shepard's side. "I wouldn't recommend moving around too much at the moment, Miss Harris," The woman said, her voice holding a motherly edge, even through the strange accent.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice sounding rough.

"You were shot, but it went clean through." She replied as she raised her omni-tool and started scanning me. "Lieutenant Alenko managed to get a good dose of medi-gel into the wound relatively quickly, however you lost a lot of blood. No permanent damage has been done, although I still recommend a lot of rest. Keep that sling on for the next few days and you'll be fine."

"Good." I mumbled. "Thanks, Doctor…"

"Chakwas, Doctor Karin Chakwas. I'm the Chief Medical Officer aboard the Normandy…. Well, the only medical person on staff at the moment. Our trip to Eden Prime was supposed to be a quick in and out mission."

"Wait, the Normandy?" I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "Where am I?"

"You're on the SSV Normandy." The doctor replied. "It was quicker to bring you aboard for treatment than finding a local medical center, which would have likely already been full to capacity."

"Thanks, I guess." I replied. "Can someone let my dad know where I am at least? Or get me a channel to him? We got separated and I just want to let him know I'm okay."

"That can be arranged." Dr. Chakwas said as she finished her scan. "Your vitals are returning to normal, Miss Harris. I'd like you to stay for another hour or two, and then you're free to return to the colony. I'll get a datapad with an extranet connection to help you get ahold of your father."

"Thanks, again." I replied as she turned to her desk.

She picked up a datapad from the top of the stack and punched in a few commands before handing it to me. "You're good to go. We're currently patched into Eden Prime's network, so you shouldn't have any issues with connectivity."

I smiled with gratitude as I settled the datapad in my lap, propping it up against my legs.

She nodded before returning to the Commander. I watched her for another few moments as she started to scan him.

To pass the time, since I knew I was going to be there for a while, I decided to do an extranet search of the Geth. I knew a little about them, but only from what I'd heard in rumors. They were created by the Quarians for manual labor, and somewhere along the line developed self-awareness. A war between the Geth and Quarians happened and the Geth drove the Quarians from their home world; the Quarians had been migrating from system to system ever since.

I wanted to know if there was more technical information about them, though. While I was able to hack into one unit, it had been by itself. I was positive if there were more units around it, I wouldn't have been able to do so.

Before I could pull up any searches, my omni-tool blipped to indicate I had a priority message. I transferred my messages to the datapad and examined the new message from an "unknown sender". It was heavily encrypted, and took me a few minutes to break the code before allowing me access.

The message contained a link to video footage. Curious, I lowered the volume and pressed play. The angle of the shot, along with the very shaky picture, told me it was a helmet cam – an alliance soldier's judging by the armor of the men and women moving around in the frame.

The soldier was breathing heavily, as if he'd been running for some time. "Sergeant, what's going on here?" He asked the soldier nearest him.

The man turned and saluted. "Sir, we have discovered a number of these… things around the colony. The men have nicknamed them dragon's teeth." The soldier indicated somewhere off camera – the camera followed and showed giant white spike sticking up into the air, held in place by three spindly legs. The camera turned back to the soldier as he began to speak again. "We're attempting to get these people down before they turn into those husks."

The camera then looked down at the ground, a little to the left of where he was standing. There was a pile of what resembled bodies, but they were all black and burnt looking. The camera began to walk up to them, and the closer it got, the more I realized that the bodies weren't burnt humans at all, they were human shaped, but they looked like they had been infused with some kind of robotics.

"The dragon's teeth are turning people into these?" The camera asked, his voice incredulous. "How?" He turned to face the Sergeant again.

"No idea, sir." The Sergeant said with a shrug. "We're hoping that if we can get these people down, we'll be able to save them, or at the very least, study them and attempt to figure out how this happens."

A few seconds later, one of the dragon's teeth collapsed in on itself, sending the person who had been impaled on it flying face first into the ground. I cringed as the man hit the dirt, and then continued to stare at the screen as a medic rushed forward to start work on the man.

I couldn't imagine that he would make it; he had a freaking giant hole in his abdomen, going straight through his back.

 _How had he not already bled out?_

Camera made his way toward the man and the medic to see what was going on. He had gotten close enough that I could make out some of the details on the fallen man. I began to feel a sense of dread as I realized that his shirt and pants looked awfully familiar, as did his shock of black hair. The medic was busy scanning him, but the man didn't move.

"Sir, this one's gone." The medic said, sounding frustrated. "I'd still like to bring him with us, for study." The camera shook as the soldier wearing it nodded.

"You two," the camera's arm lifted and he indicated two soldiers. "Get this man back to the shuttle so the medics can study him. The rest of you, carry on."

The two soldiers stepped forward, but as soon as they bent to pick the man up, he lunged at the camera in a blur of motion. The camera crashed to the ground, the feed flickering a few times before it resolved into a steady image. The man who had pretty much been dead just seconds before, now sounded feral; he clawed and kicked and snapped as he fought for control.

I watched, horrified as I recognized his face. The crazy man, with a hole in his middle and strange, glowing mechanical eyes; the man who should be dead… the _husk_ … was my dad.

I sat in shock, too dumbfounded to register anything else.

"Miss Harris? Miss Harris…?" It took me a while to figure out the Doctor was talking to me. "Is everything alright, Miss Harris?"

I swallowed, my eyes full of tears. "My dad…" I started to sob. I caught the look of bewilderment on Doctor Chakwas' face as I buried my face in my pillows. I heard the video continue as I cried, the sound of snarling, struggling, yelling… then a gunshot and all was quiet.

I continued to sob into my pillows, barely registering the doctor walking away. I was grateful she was leaving me alone for the moment; I needed a little bit of time with my grief.

My dad was the one thing in my life that I loved more than myself. He was the one thing that tied me back to my home; the one thing that kept me going after my mother walked out on us both.

Life was going to be a hell of a lot harder from this point out.

"I love you, daddy." I whispered. _May you rest in peace…_

I sat staring blankly into space, hearing and seeing what was going on around me, but not really processing it. I knew some time had passed since I learned of my father's death; maybe a few minutes, maybe a few hours. It felt like time had stood still, each second of grief lasting an eternity.

I'd lost the one person who meant the most to me; my rock, my pillar. My _dad_.

We spoke every day - whether it was just a few messages back and forth, or an actual call. It was going to take some time for me to process that I no longer had someone I could call on a whim and complain about Chellick being an ass, or to cry to when yet another man broke up with me because I was too engrossed in my work.

 _Maybe I need to get some actual friends._

The problem was I enjoyed my work too much; I could talk with the other people in my department, and even go out occasionally with them and a few others in the office building we occupied. I considered them my "friends" but I'd never felt as close with them as I had with my father.

A deep voice saying my name brought me out of my stupor. I looked slightly to my right and examined the man who spoke to me: tall and dark, his features lined with age and the telltale signs of being an Alliance lifer. His rank insignia indicated he was the Captain.

"Miss Harris … are you okay?" He was asking.

I nodded slowly, and then shook my head. "Not really," I croaked out, the words making my throat burn.

The captain simply nodded. "I can understand that. I'm very sorry for your loss." I stifled a sob and gave him a jerky nod. He stood at parade rest, his hands clasped lightly behind his back as he continued. "I'm Captain David Anderson. I wanted to come personally thank you for your help on Eden Prime. I'm not sure the team would have made it out of there if they hadn't run into you."

"I'm just glad I happened to be in the right place at the right time." I replied, trying to pull myself together. "And thank you for bringing me aboard. I know my injuries are minor compared to some of your crew."

The captain waved his hand dismissively. "You were injured alongside my crew, it was nothing." He placed a hand on my right shoulder, his expression softening. "You take as much time as you need, and then contact me so that I can get a statement from you for the mission report. After that we can return you to the colony."

I shook my head in response. "It's ok," I cleared my throat to get rid of the lump there. "I've lived on the Citadel for the past thirteen years, I was only here visiting my dad. I don't think I can go back to the colony quite yet. If you can help me secure transport to the Citadel I'd be grateful."

Anderson smiled and gave my shoulder a small squeeze. "As a matter of fact, we'll be leaving Eden Prime shortly for the Citadel. We need to make a report to the Council in person, so if you'd like to stay aboard you're more than welcome."

"Thank you, sir." I nodded.

"Captain or Anderson is fine." He chuckled. "The mess is just outside the med-bay here, and my cabin is just beyond that. Take the time you need, grab a bite to eat, and come see me." He let go of my shoulder, gave me a nod and then went over to the group surrounding Shepard.

I watched them for a few minutes, before turning my attention to Nihlus. I stood and walked over to him, examining the bandages. The swelling behind his facial plates had gone down tremendously, and the doctor had done a good job of cleaning him up.

Now that the swelling had gone down, Nihlus was striking to look at; his bright white colony markings a stark contrast to the deep burgundy of his plates. His face, arms, and torso were littered with old scars and a few cracks; signs of age, and battle.

I stared at him a little longer, and then chided myself for not recognizing him sooner. This was Nihlus Kryik, best spectre in the galaxy after Saren. I frowned as I thought over what had supposedly happened at the dock between Nihlus and Saren. They had fought, which made no sense because Saren had been Nihlus' mentor once upon a time. They should have been close, not trying to kill each other.

"I'm having the weirdest dream…" I said to myself. Glancing over at the group surrounding Shepard, I decided it was time for me to slip out of the med-bay. I walked away from Nihlus and the group, into the mess hall and nearly got run over by the lieutenant.

"Oh, uh, hi there." He said awkwardly. "I was just going in to check on you and the Commander." He held out his hand. "We haven't been properly introduced, I'm Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

I took his hand and shook it. "Nikki Harris, but you already knew that." I grinned and let go of his hand. I always hated shaking hands with biotics; their skin gave off a weird, prickly feeling that I found really unpleasant.

"Yeah so, looks like you're doing okay Miss Harris." He continued in his awkward manner. This time I _did_ roll my eyes.

"Please, call me Nikki.. Or if you want to be formal about it, just Harris, like my coworkers do. You don't seem that much older than me, and I can't even stand it when _older_ people call me 'Miss Harris'." I said, probably sounding a bit more annoyed than I should have been. "Can you help me get some food? I'm starving."

Kaidan grinned, apparently overjoyed to help. "Sure. I'll get you set up."

I watched him as he gathered up a prepackaged meal and heated it for me, deciding he wasn't really all that bad. At least he was pretty easy on the eyes, with his tall, dark demeanor and adorable puppy-dog gaze.

Five minutes later I was sitting at the table with a military ration of what appeared to be spaghetti. Kaidan had grabbed himself a power bar and sat across from me. Feeling self-conscious, I took a tentative bite.

"Ugh…" I groaned around my mouthful of mushy noodles and artificial sauce. I forced myself to swallow. "Are you sure this isn't a dextro-ration? This is _awful_." I said it teasingly, but he apparently misunderstood.

Kaidan's brown eyes got big as he went back into the kitchen area. I turned in my chair to see what he was doing to find him chest deep into the trash receptacle. He pulled out the little baggie the meal had come in and read it over carefully.

"No," He said returning to his seat and showing me the package. "It's not dextro. It's just disgusting." He chuckled.

"I was joking, Kaidan." I said, bracing myself for another bite. I really didn't want to eat the stuff, but it had to have been more than ten hours since that pizza at my dad's house. "Why would a human Alliance ship have dextro rations on board?"

Kaidan raised his eyebrows. "Didn't anyone tell you about the ship?" When I shook my head he continued. "She's a prototype, co-developed by the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. I can't get into all the technical aspects of it, other than she's a brand new ship with an experimental drive core. "

I nearly dropped my spork at _that_ tidbit. "The turian hierarchy worked with the Alliance to build this ship?" I asked in disbelief. I steadied my eating utensil as I looked up at Kaidan, impatiently waiting for him to answer.

Most turians I ran into wanted nothing to do with humans – old hostilities and prejudices left over from the first contact war. The thought of humans and turians collaborating to build a top of the line ship… well that was in interesting thought.

"Yeah." Kaidan replied. "The council paid for the Normandy to be designed and built, as a way to get our governments to work together. This mission to Eden Prime was supposed to just be a quick pick up run apparently, just to test the stealth system."

I pretended to enjoy my mock-spaghetti as Kaidan droned on and on about how he was selected to be a part of the crew and then something about the first captain of the ship not getting along with the turian representative, so that's how Anderson came to be the captain….

I had almost finished what was on my tray when the doors to the med-bay hissed open and the captain walked out. Kaidan jumped up and quickly saluted, earning a headshake from Anderson.

"At ease, Alenko." Anderson said. I stood up to greet him as well. "Sorry the food's not the best, Nikki, but I'm glad to see you've eaten."

I shrugged my right shoulder. "Beggars can't be choosers."

"Rightly so." He grinned and winked. "Are you feeling up to talking about what happened down there?"

I shrugged again. "Not really, but if I don't talk now, it won't be as fresh." I replied.

Anderson simply nodded and motioned me to follow him as he turned toward his cabin. I made to grab my tray, but it had already disappeared. Kaidan was standing at the counter, rinsing the plate and utensils off.

"I got it. You go ahead with Anderson." He said. I stared at him blankly, wondering what was with him. He seemed overly eager to please anyone.

Anderson had already gone into his cabin, so I quickly made my way over and stepped inside. The door shut behind me and Anderson indicated to have a seat at the table close to the door.

It felt a little odd, being in the space he stayed in, mostly because the bed was in full view, but then I thought of my own apartment on the citadel. It was a studio with everything laid out. You could see my bed from my dining room table. Suddenly I felt a little more relaxed.

We went over what happened, his major questions centered more on how I was able to hack into the geth platform.

"That's not supposed to be possible." He said quietly. "Do you have all the data from its memory banks?"

"Not everything, the unit is still intact and my omni-tool doesn't have the capacity to store that much data." I replied. "I haven't really had a chance to go through it in detail, but from what I've seen, Saren is working with the geth to bring back these ancient machines to wipe out all organic life. It should implicate him as leading the attack."

Anderson nodded, his fingertips touching and resting against his chin. "I'll have you transfer the information over to our navigation officer, Pressley. He can help sort through some of the data." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Please continue."

"There's not much after that." I admitted. "I headed towards the spaceport to disarm the bombs and met up with your team. Nihlus had already been unconscious by the time I saw him. We disarmed the bombs, Shepard found the beacon, and here we are."

I purposely skipped over the fact that I had sent my dad off to run away from the colony, but Anderson didn't ask any questions about it. He was easy enough to talk to, mostly because he had a fatherly appeal to him. He genuinely listened to what was being said, and carefully considered the words he was going to say before saying them.

In the very short time I'd known him; I'd grown to really like him.

"So, you said you work for C-Sec?" Anderson asked, still leaning on his knees.

I nodded. "Yes. I'm a cyber-security specialist. I handle monitoring the security algorithms around high-risk or sensitive data; most of it surrounding the Council and Spectres. Although I had no idea that this ship was being built, or that one of the council's most trusted spectres was aboard. Usually I'm in the know about council commissioned items." I grinned smugly.

Anderson's brows rose. "Would you know anything about Saren's activities?" He asked, straightening up. "Anything else that may help implicate him in the attack on Eden Prime? If Nihlus doesn't survive his injuries, we have no one to validate that Saren was actually there. The Council is unlikely to believe the story of a dock worker who refused to come with us."

I shook my head. "No, nothing comes to mind. Although once we get back to the citadel I'll do what I can to look into him. And what about the data I have from the geth?" I added, a slightly hysterical edge to my voice. If the council didn't believe the dock worker, and Nihlus died, the data I had gotten from the geth unit surely had to be relevant.

Anderson slowly shook his head. "I may be wrong, but I'm not sure the council will believe the data on its own." He leaned back in his chair crossing his foot over his knee as well as his arms over his chest. "As hard as it is to believe you've actually hacked a geth unit, there's just too much that you seem to know for you to have made it up."

"Thank you for believing me." I smiled, feeling pride well up inside me alongside the fear that sat in the pit of my stomach. Saren was the council's pet; and Anderson was right, the only evidence we had to prove his involvement was a scared dockworker and who knew what in the data I had. Nihlus _had_ to make it. "Are Nihlus' injuries so bad that you don't think he's going to live?" I asked quietly.

Anderson sighed, suddenly looking years older. "Doctor Chakwas was able to stabilize him until we get to the Citadel; however, she isn't so optimistic about brain activity. Turians don't do head injuries very well - their facial plates aren't very forgiving if there's any swelling. Because he had so much swelling for such an extended period of time, Chakwas thinks he may have sustained some brain injuries."

I gasped in surprise. "You seem to know quite a bit about Turians."

Anderson responded with a chuckle. "I wish I could take the credit for that. Doctor Chakwas was chosen for the Normandy because of her extensive knowledge on turian physiology. The original plan for this crew was to have both human and turian crew members; however, we got called out to Eden Prime before we could fully staff her. Regardless, we won't know for sure about Nihlus until we get him to a hospital on the Citadel. Doctor Chakwas is good, but she's not a neuro-specialist."

I nodded. "She patched me up pretty good. I'm glad your team brought me on board."

"It seemed to be the quickest course of action at the time." Anderson replied. He stood up and began to slowly pace, his hands behind his back. "There's one more thing in the reports here I need to ask you about, but I understand if you can't speak openly about it."

I tilted my head in confusion, watching him move across the room. "Okay?" I asked.

He stopped pacing and looked down at me, his expression odd, as if he were choosing his words carefully. "In Alenko and William's reports, they both stated that you seemed to… teleport… between the bombs. Are you at liberty to explain how you did that?"

I laughed so hard my shoulder began to complain. "They thought I teleported?" I studied his face as I took deep breaths to calm myself. His expression was serious, and I quickly sobered. "I'm sorry. I didn't teleport, I cloaked. I've been working on a program on my omni-tool to make me invisible, but the cloaking field is only stable for about four or five seconds. After that it overloads the power cells on the omni-tool and fails."

Anderson sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest. "Were you commissioned to do this?" He arched an eyebrow as he asked his question.

I shook my head in response. "I went undercover on an investigation and the detective I was with had mentioned how much easier the whole operation would have been if we could just go in and not be seen at all." I chuckled at the memory. "After the sting was over we made a bet to see who could come up with the cloaking program first."

Both of Anderson's eyebrows were raised. "You went undercover?"

I shrugged my right shoulder. "They said they needed a pretty face that wasn't recognizable as a cop, but was still C-Sec and would follow protocol. I fit the bill since I don't do patrols."

"Did you have any plans for this cloaking program once it was complete?" He leaned forward on his knees again.

"Not really." I chuckled and looked at the floor for a moment before meeting his gaze. "I honestly never expected it to work. If I can figure out how to make the cloak last longer than two seconds, I'll probably sell the rights to the Council for Spectres; or maybe the Alliance for saving my ass on Eden Prime."

He grinned and stood once more. "Atta girl."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: YAAAAAYYYY I FINALLY DID THE THING!**

 **Sorry it took so long for an update guys, and thank you thank you thank you for the patience. Life was super hectic and I had a major block halfway through this chapter... now that Nikki's headed back into familiar territory, the chapters should flow much easier.**

 **Also, please let me know if you find any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. This chapter hasn't been fully beta'd.**

 ****Disclaimer: I don't own some of the conversation with Joker. That came from the game. Totally all Bioware there with bits I've added in.**

 **^Add on- 4/18/17 I fixed some of the formatting errors because I forgot things don't always come over to FFN from Google Docs.**

* * *

I stepped into the mess hall of the Normandy after my chat with its captain, looking to my left into the corridor that housed the sleeper pods and suppressed a shudder. Anderson had offered them as an option to help my recovery and to pass some time, however I had respectfully declined.

"Don't worry; those things give me the creeps too." A voice from the table said. I glanced to the right and saw a man wearing an Alliance work uniform and a non-standard cap emblazoned with 'SR-1' seated at the table; a plate of something smothered in a brown-ish sauce in front of him. "If you want a quiet place to catch some shut eye, there's a mako in the cargo bay."

I cocked an eyebrow at him and took a few steps toward the table. "Oh? That sounds rather tempting. Are you just telling me or inviting me to join you there?" I replied with a smirk. The painkillers the doc had given me made me a little more loose-tongued than I normally would have been with someone I had only just met.

The man nearly choked on a sporkful of his meal before laughing at my response. "You know, you're not so bad for a cop. I thought they all sticks up their asses." He motioned to the seat across from him. "Care to join me? Uh… here, not in the Mako I mean."

My smirk widened to a grin as I sat down. "You must have only run into turians, then. _They're_ the ones who are tightwads." I scooted myself in a bit before continuing. "How is it that you know who I am?"

"Because I know everything that happens on this ship. It's just this thing I do." He replied with a cocky grin. "The name's Joker."

"Joker? As in Batman's nemesis?" I leaned back in my chair, brushing my bangs away from my eyes. "Do tell how you got _that_ nickname."

He studied me for a long moment before breaking into a genuine smile. "That's actually not it at all, it's just a lot shorter than saying 'Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. Plus I love making little children laugh." He finished sarcastically.

I laughed. "Right. I was just thinking how much you remind me of Santa Claus."

Joker grimaced at that. "Look, I didn't pick the name. One of the instructors at flight school used to bug me about never smiling, so she started calling me 'Joker' and it stuck." He added with a shrug.

"Well you seem like a super duper, happy, go lucky sorta guy to me." I replied, shifting slightly in my seat. The pain meds were beginning to wear off, and my shoulder was starting to twinge uncomfortably. "Why didn't you ever smile?"

"I worked my ass off in flight school. I learned early on in life that the world's not gonna hand you anything if you go around grinning like an idiot. By the end of the year I was the best damn pilot in the academy - even better than than the instructors- and everybody knew it." He took a drink from his glass and smiled smugly. "They all got their asses kicked by the sickly little kid with the creaky legs. One guess who was smiling at graduation."

"Sickly little kid with creaky legs?" I asked in confusion, shifting again and grimacing as my shoulder jolted.

Joker sighed. "Right. So." He took a deep breath and continued, "I've got Vrolik's Syndrome, aka Brittle Bone Disease. The bones in my legs, and most of my lower body for that matter, never developed properly, they're pretty much hollow... too much force and they'll shatter. Even with crutches and my leg braces it's hard to get around. One wrong step and CRACK!" He slammed his fist on the table to emphasize the word and causing me to jump as the silverware and his plate rattled. "It's all _very_ dramatic. But I've learned to manage my condition. With me at the helm of the Normandy… well I can make her dance. Just don't ask _me_ to dance though. Unless, you know, you like the sound of snapping shin bones."

I frowned again. "How do you not break a bone while you fly the ship?"

He rolled his eyes. "Uhhh, because I don't fly the ship with my feet, so I'm fine as long as I'm in my chair. I gotta be real careful when I get up to take a piss though." He joked, his expression changing from humor to concern in a second. "Hey, are you okay?"

I grimaced. "No. The pain meds your doctor gave me have worn off and my shoulder is killing me."

As if on cue, Dr. Chakwas came out of the medbay. Upon seeing me she briskly walked over to my side of the table. "Miss Harris, Captain Anderson messaged me to tell me you weren't going to use the sleeper pods, and it occurred to me that you may be in some discomfort by now." She reached into a pocket in her labcoat and produced two small white pills. "Here, take these. It's a mild painkiller to help with your shoulder. I would prefer you either rest in a sleeper pod or return to the medbay."

"Ew… Not you too. Please, doctor, just call me Nikki." I replied as I took the pills from her. " And I'll think about it, thank you." I made to stand but the doctor shook her head.

"No, stay still, I'll get you something to drink." She scowled, and then turned toward the kitchen area. She returned a moment later with a bottle of water. "For some reason I seem to think eventually my patients will take my recommendations. You'd think working on starships my entire career would have taught me otherwise." She opened the bottle and handed to me.

I put the pills into my mouth and grabbed the bottle, taking a big gulp to wash them down. "I've been asleep the past few hours, and now I've got some interesting people to talk to." I nodded towards Joker. "You don't _really_ think I'd go back to bed, do you?" I smiled up at her.

"You're just as stubborn as the crew on this ship." She chuckled, shaking her head once more. "If you start feeling dizzy or lightheaded, please return to the medbay immediately. I'll keep a bed open for you."

"You should probably take her up on that offer, I'm about to head back up to the cockpit so that we can get the heck outta dodge." Joker quipped in. "The trip to the Citadel should only take us a few hours, and nothing exciting is gonna happen in between."

"How about I come up and bother you then?" I chuckled, waggling my eyebrows. "Could make the time go by faster with some company."

Joker shrugged before pushing away from the table and slowly standing up with difficulty. "Suit yourself. You're certainly better company than Lieutenant Alenko… he's painfully dull. All rules and regs and 'the captain only sounds pissed after talking to you, Joker.' Pointing out the obvious and stuff."

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips as I stood and followed Joker to the stairs, past the CIC and into the cockpit. It seemed a long way to have to walk for someone in his condition, but he managed alright. Maybe that was his only exercise? Would it be rude to ask how he'd gotten into the Alliance with his condition? Why did I care?

I hovered near him as he slowly lowered himself into the pilot's seat; not that I'd be much help with my bad arm, but I couldn't help myself. Really, it seemed out of place to let someone so fragile… someone who could barely move without being in pain… pilot a starship. What happened in the event of an emergency evacuation? How could he get to a escape pod quickly if he couldn't move fast enough by himself? The cockpit was situated too far forward of the ship and was relatively isolated...

"Uhhh…. Earth to Nikki, come in Nikki…" My thoughts were interrupted by the man I'd been wondering about, his hand waving absently in my face. "You okay there? Ya' kinda spaced out on me."

I shook my head to clear it, heat flushing into my cheeks. "Yeah, I uh.. Sorry. My mind was wandering… the pain meds seem to be kicking in again." I glanced around the small space before taking a seat on Joker's right in the copilot's chair. The view through the small window was spectacular- we were on the night side of Eden Prime, right above the colony. I could see all the twinkling lights from the buildings, although the more I thought about it, some of those lights could still be fires burning.

With a suppressed shudder, I turned back to Joker. "So… you gonna show me how you make this boat dance, or what?"

A few nerdy, nostalgic hours later we were soaring through the Serpent Nebula, and the cockpit was suddenly crowded with the ground team, including Commander Shepard. Everyone was fawning over the Citadel, then the Destiny Ascension, and I tried my best not to roll my eyes. I lived on the station- been off of it and returned to it so many times in the past thirteen years that the novelty of it had worn off. I thought back to my first visit and realized I could relate to their reactions.

Suddenly, Shepard looked over his shoulder at me and grinned. "Something amusing, Miss Harr… Nikki?"

I chuckled in response. "Yeah, you all are like a bunch of kids, pressing your noses into the window of a candy shop." I waved in their general direction and Alenko, WIlliams, and Jenkins all turned to face me as well. "I've seen the damn thing so many times, I've forgotten what it's like to have never experienced it at all. Glad to see you're up and about, Commander. I can't believe I came to before you."

Shepard's expression softened a bit, a man of many emotions it seemed. "I'm glad to see you're up and about as well. You feeling alright? Joker's not being too much a pain in the ass, is he?"

"Uh, Joker's right here, Commander, and no disrespect, but I kinda need to concentrate and talk to people outside the ship so that we don't get blown to bits on our approach. So if you'd all kindly either can it or go away, I'd appreciate it." Joker said, his voice dripping with agitation and sarcasm as his eyes and hands flew across the holo screens.

I for one couldn't believe Joker would talk to his superior officer that way, but Shepard merely chuckled and shook his head as he turned to the group that had gathered. "You heard the man, clear out!" He ordered, taking a step toward me and extending his hand. "You too, Nikki. Doctor Chakwas wants to see you again before you leave so she can forward her evaluation to your regular physician."

I groaned before taking his hand and allowing him to help me up. "Bye, Joker. I'm off to go be an adult." I muttered and allowed the Commander to guide me away as Joker gave me a slight grunt and continued to steer the ship toward the Citadel.

We walked in silence until we came upon the stairs, where Shepard cleared his throat before speaking. "I wanted to thank you for your help on Eden Prime. And offer my condolences. Captain Anderson told me about your father."

My throat tightened a bit at the mention of my dad, making my slight smile a bit awkward. "Thanks. And.. Uh… I'm just happy you didn't shoot me as soon as you found me. I'm glad I was able to help."

We walked the rest of the way in a slightly awkward silence; Commander Shepard seemed to be a different man out of his armor. Still cool and collected, but nowhere near as…. Well, scary. I guess having heavy armor and several lethal weapons attached to you in a combat situation will make anyone look scarier than they really are.

The doors to the medbay swooshed open and immediately Dr Chakwas was on me, a hand on my right arm steering me toward a bed, her omnitool alight and scanning me. "How are you feeling? Any lingering dizziness from the pain medication? Have you been comfortable?"

"Woah, doc, take a breath." I commented as I allowed her to push me into a seated position. This is why I didn't like going to the doctor in the first place. "I'm fine. A little sore, but fine."

"My apologies." Chakwas sighed, wiping her hand across her forehead. "I've been preparing Spectre Kryik for our arrival at the citadel. He's improved greatly in the past few hours. If there's no neurological damage, he should make a full recovery, however it's been a nightmare trying to situate him properly for the amount of movement he is about to endure." she finished the scan and closed her omnitool. "Alright. I'm pleased to report you will make a full recovery. I've sent you everything I've found so that you can report to your primary physician as well as written you a prescription for more pain medication if you want it. You can take the sling off in another few hours, but the best thing at the moment is a good night's rest. It was a pleasure meeting you, Nikki."

"Thanks, doc." I replied as I stood, eager to get away from her before she started more tests. I cast a glance back at the unconscious turian and scampered out, Commander Shepard close on my heels.

"Chakwas can be overbearing, but she means well." He stated as he caught up to me.

"She's a doctor, it's her job to mean well." I scoffed, running my right hand through my hair to move some stray strands from my face, then dropped in the middle of the hallway as I realized I didn't know where to go.

Shepard merely chuckled. "You can wait here in the mess if you want, or head back up to the cockpit- Joker didn't really seem to mind you. The airlock is up there anyway, and it's where we'll all disembark."

I nodded in assent. "Thanks Commander. I uh… assume you'll be in touch if I'm needed for the council hearing?"

"Yes. The council may want to speak with you personally… We don't really know yet. Regardless we'll be in touch to let you know how it all turns out." he replied with a nod. "Thank you again for your assistance. If it weren't for you being there, I'm not sure I'd still be alive to be reporting to the council at all."

My throat tightened again at his thanks, and all I could do was nod in response. He was right, in a way. If I hadn't been there, the colony would probably have been leveled and reported as a geth attack. Maybe. I had yet to hack into communications on Eden Prime before they went down. _That_ would be priority number one when I got back to my apartment. If there was even a glimpse of Saren it would be the nail in the proverbial coffin, _especially_ if Kryik didn't make it. As it was, there seemed to be enough evidence to make the council suspend him to the Citadel until an investigation could be completed.

"I should go." Shepard said, giving me one last awkward smile then headed toward Anderson's quarters, leaving me on my own. With a sigh I trudged back up to the cockpit, taking in the Normandy for the first time. It was a spectacular ship; elegant in design from the inside. I wondered what the drive core was like and silently lamented that I wouldn't be in the boat much longer. Oh well. Highly classified schematics would have to do. It was a good thing I knew how to get into things I wasn't supposed to see.

By the time I made it back to the cockpit, docking procedures were almost complete. I sighed again, this time with annoyance as my omnitool began pinging with incoming messages. I shoved the sling to the side and opened the omnitool, glancing through the first few from colleagues- some asking if I was okay, a few others offering words of hope that my father was okay. It sucked- but I knew I had to get used to that.

One in particular caught my eye so I opened it up and read it carefully.

Sender:Vakarian, G.

Subject:Need your help with Investigation

Harris, I got the prelim reports passed down from Executor Pallin and I've been put in charge of investigating the incident on Eden Prime. Heard you're on your way back here. Message me where we can meet up, I need your help.

I frowned slightly- Officer Vakarian was on this? That hot headed turian? Someone high up had to have done this. Not that Vakarian was a bad cop- far from it. He had his father's instincts when it came to facts but unlike his father, who I'd known from my early days in C-Sec, he was quick to act and didn't always follow protocol. Which had resulted in a bunch of arrests, but in the end some of the bad guys got to walk because of how the justice system on this space station was set up. Pallin had to be trying to cover for Saren if they put an officer with Vakarian's track record on this.

Re:Need your help with Investigation

Of course I'll help. Got shot on EP… it was fun. Doc said to rest. Heading home. Meet ya there.

I sent off my reply as another message came in, this one from an unknown sender… which usually meant it was from the Shadow Broker.

Sender:unknown

Subject:none

Fifty thousand credits have been transferred to your account. Agent Fist has betrayed the collective and now works for Spectre Saren Arturius. Assume all pertinent intel gathered has been compromised. Fist is to be eliminated.

Suddenly I wished I had a chair to sit in. Fist was a dbag, but I never thought he'd be stupid enough to betray the Shadow Broker. Saren… It all led back to that damn turian… he must have offered one hell of a deal to get Fist to switch sides.

I sent off another message to a krogan merc I'd used several times for contracts then shut my omnitool and stared out the viewport of the cockpit, watching idly as the docking arms extended into place. With a slight bump they locked magnetically onto the hull.

"Well, cool cop Nikki, looks like this is goodbye. You're not gonna get mushy on me are ya?" Joker commented as he turned his chair around.

I laughed, shrugging my good shoulder. "Nah. I've never been big on goodbyes. Next time you're here for a while, look me up. It'll be good to geek out with a fellow nerd again."

Joker grinned in return. "Oh you're on."

"Well… til next time." I said, jumping when the airlock swooshed open. He laughed at my reaction and I grinned then walked down the ramp and into the docking station where I promptly called a cab and headed home. I had a shower to get out of the way and some intel to dig up on the Council's pet.

It was gonna be a fun night.


End file.
